Happy New Year 2011!

Enjoy!

Photo via Times. 1907. rad.

Black Eyed Peas!

Southern lore has it that you eat Black Eyed Peas on New Year's Day you'll have luck the whole year. Who can't use a little more luck! I will be soaking those beans tonight and slow cookin' them tomorrow for our lucky dish.

Also called Hoppin John, there are recipes here, a healthy version here, and (slow cooked) here.

Happy New Year, Y'all!!!

& 'til next year, Christmas tree!

Custom Flash Cards

I've been looking for cute, spunky flash cards for bambino for quite some time. Although there are several cute ones by traditional companies, I wanted something a little... more. Something custom.

I made these (above) around Eastertime. It was great - I had an old baby catalog that had his exact furniture in it, so I could cut and paste a picture of his crib or his high chair and it was the actual one for him to recognize! I have looked for the last six months, and have decided to just add to the collection as we go. Custom flash cards, here we come!

Just pick up some paint sample cards at your local hardware store, grab scissors and a glue stick, old magazines and scissors and rock it out. Punch a hole, and secure with a metal o-clasp ring. We'll be going through old magazines this weekend for more photos. And maybe holiday cards for relatives' photos. Happy flash cards all!

Snow Day Project

It's a snow day - outside it's dumping! - and I'm dreaming of a nice, hot bath. It's a great time to put together a little pampering kit - Easy, peasy, warm & cozy bath salts!

Steps: Get a good, clean jar. I like to use my old jam jars, with the pretty lid. But for my bath salts, I needed something larger. Measure 2 cups epsom salts (or any salts - I like Epsom for magnesium) and add 1 1/2 tsp. of your favorite essential oil (I used a mix). Shake very very well, tie a bow, and you're done! A great treat for yourself anytime.

Crafty Simplicity

Hello All!

Hope you are having a fabulous end-of-year holiday season. As inspiration for the New Year, I have decided that before buying anything new for 2011, I will ask -can I borrow it? rent it? or make it? - Instead. I stumbled across a few simplicity blogs - the 100 Thing Challenge. Can you live with only 100 things? It would simplify things, no?

Inspired by Martha's new furniture craft line - above - (who my friend Sue insists that she lives to make you feel inadequate), I have created my own craft station:

As in making everything utilitarian (another thing decided this year - to not buy something unless it has more than one use), this is also the downstairs baby changing station/ slash/ cocktail server for parties. As with much of our furniture, it was given to us by friends who moved to Denver.

So, we are slowly organizing and finding much we had lost, and much that was donated to us this year from friends and family members who moved/cleaned/organized.

This week's objective - to completely clean and organize each room for the new year! Sunday was laundry & the cellar; Monday was the kitchen, walls, cabinets & appliances; Tuesday was the living room, dining room and bathroom (spilled over to today); Today/Wednesday is closets upstairs - keep/mend/donate; Thursday is floors and back porch; and Friday is stairs and decorations. I just hate taking down our Christmas tree!

Downstairs will now host our miscellaneous "in case of moving" boxes and a whole stack of a someday garage sale - free box - toy exchange.

Packaged up all nice and purdy...

So, another Christmas has come and gone, and after reveling in all the presents, mistletoe and friends, we ask: what to do with all those leftovers!!!

Solution: On the suggestion of my dear Auntie M, I separately weighed, measured and packaged individual dinners for the fridge and freezer. 3-4 oz of turkey, 1/2 cup each of mashed tatoes and stuffing, some green beans, sweet potatoes, and A's gravy, and we're set! A likes it because he doesn't have to take out a million bowls to assemble a plate. I like it because we eliminated large containers in favor of individual "plates" (washed and reused take-away containers from our favorite Thai place) and there's more room.

We actually still had another 9x13 left of stuffing - A was really ambitious this year. I placed portions in a 12 cupcake/muffin pan (with two cupcakes of mashed tatoes & gravy), froze, and then popped out and double bagged the stuffing muffins. Now we have individually-sized stuffing portions for the future. AKA No cooking in January! Awesome!

Post-Modern Gingerbread!

We sat down last night and put together our gingerbread homes! I cut out most of the prep work by purchasing the limited-edition Gingerbread-flavored Graham Crackers. Simply pop apart, mix mortar (1 1/3 c powdered sugar and scant 2 tsp water - this is glue!), apply and go for it!

Note A's architecturally-significant gingy house, complete with lemon gumdrop "uplighting". I also made gingerbread cookies, with a yummy lemon-sugar glaze. The lemon really cuts it from being a sugary-sweet cookie to a delicacy.

Advent One and All!

To invent our advent calendar (inspired by Motherload's Advent Calendar), we came up with a list of family activities to attempt the month of December! Hopefully we can make them all, but if not - no worries. Some are duplicates, because in our tiny town, it seems many things happen on one day and then nothing for a week! We've no formal advent calendar, but I am inspired by the downloadable free one at Mibo Studios, the home-sewn one by Homemade by Jill, and the dual treat-and-giving calendars by Girl Con Queso. Maybe next year.

Here is our list of December activities:

1. Light a fire in the fireplace & decorate the house/Attend Noel Night/Pix with Santa

2. Watch "How the Grinch stole Christmas"

3. Write a letter to Santa

4. Decorate the tree, String Popcorn

5. Ski together

6. Write Christmas Cards & mail, with packages

7. Read "The Night before Christmas"

8. Pick out holiday books at the Library & read. [Update: This year's picks: Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner, Merry Christmas Mom & Dad by Mercer Mayer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss and, to mix it up, Seuss' There's a Wocket in my Pocket]

9. Listen to local carolers

10. Color a Christmas Scene

11. Watch Tree Lighting in the sawuare

12. Make a gingerbread house

13. Make snowflakes

14. Read a holiday book

15. Roast chestnuts [update: couldn't find anywhere!]

16. Kiddo bubble bath with holiday music

17. Host holiday get-together and/or go to holiday party

18. Make a Snowman & Snow Angels

19. Drive to see holiday lights

20. Bake cookies- sugar, gingerbread, bourbon balls & rice krispies

21. Deliver cookies to neighbors, local service people

22. Sing carols together

23. Light luminarias

24. Christmas Eve mass, Open 1 gift, cookies for Santa & carrots for reindeer

25. Celebrate Christmas!

26. Watch a family movie

27. Build a sled course in the backyard

28. Drink hot cocoa

29. Make NYE banner & decorate

30. Snowball fight

31. Celebrate NYE, watch torchlight parade down ski mountain!